Button-blank-slitting machine.



N. BARRY.`

BUTTON BLANK SLITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AIIGJ. 1916.

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2 EEEEEEEEEEEE I I N. BARRY.

BUTTON BLANK SLFTTING MACHINE.

`APPLICATIQN FILED AuG.1.l916.

Patented Apr. 30, 1918.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- lincassa Y NICHOLAS BARRY, OF MUSCATINE, JIOWA.

BUTTUN-BLANK-SLITTIN'G' MACHINE.

Muscatine, in the county of Muscatine and State oflowa, have invented certain new and useful improvements` in Button-Blank Slitting Machines; andl hereby declare that the following' is a full; clear, and eXact description thereof7 reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of v this specification.

rlhis invention isa novel improvement in l machines for splitting or dividing overly thick button blanks so as to reduce the amount of waste and grinding' necessary onA invention has `particular reference to the.'

manufacture of so called pearl buttons made from pearl or mussel shells. j rllhe shells are very thick adjacent the hinge portions where the pearl is finest, fand the blanks are usually cut from such shells by circular saws but the blanks cut from the thick portion of the shell may be a half inch or more in thickness and it has been found impossible tol split such blanks straight; and also very ydifficult to properly set such blanks because the pearl will not cleave properly; and it has been found impractical orundesirable to attempt to grind these overly thick blanksdo'wn as it is expensive and wasteful9 and where a great deal of grinding is required the blanks are apt to become calcined by the heat and consequently greatly impaired in value by extra breakage.

The object Iof my invention is to enable such thick blanks to be economically, quickly j' and practically split or cut into transversev sections of the desired thickness, and this 1 accomplish by means of novel mechanism and devices hereinafter explained, rl`he invention also further provides novel means whereby a series of blanks maybe simultaneously operated upon inthe same machine; also .provides means whereby thick blanks maybe fed to a traveling series of chucks and as the chuck travels the blanks are subjected to the action. of. rotary splitters or cutters which divide the blanks, the portion ofthe blank left, in the chuck being of' uniform, thickness and such as is desired for rforming the buttons, and the portions sevv ered from the blanks may be subsequently ground or subjected to another splitting opj Specication of Letters Patent.

ratenteu apr., ao, mi..

eration until all lthe blank i isk practically l utilized in the production of fine buttons.-

-Prefer'ably the revolving blanks while they are being cut may alsofbe simultaneously subjected to the action of the rotary cutter or. disk which travels with the chuck and is arranged to operate upon the blank from the outside toward the center, and this prevents the blank' from splitting or cleaving on the slant and produces perfect blanks.

' lin the practical operation of the, machine the blanks may be'successively fed to the chucks by the operator standing at one side of the machine as the chucks pass the feeding point and before they return 'to the feeding point the blank will be cut or split leaving a portion of the desiredithickness in the chuck, which portion. is takenfrom the chuck'before it again reaches the feeding point; the fresh water shells from which a great quantity of pearl` buttons are now made are very brittle and it is undesirable to cut them with a metal saw because the vibration4 of the .saw is apt to improperly split the blanks, but my method .of arranging the cutters so that the blanks are cutfrom the outside towardthe center enables me to cut clean straight sections from the thick blank and without injuring the quality of the pearl.

if will explain the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings and set forth in the claims the essential parts and combinations of parts for which protection is desired.

lln said' drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper partof a machine embodying the invention.

lllig. 2 is" a transverse sectional view von the lline 2 2 Fig. 1o

lffigo 3 is a detailv top plan view of one of the cutters and its mountings.

lFig. 4 is a detail side elevation of the I cutter and mountings shown in Fig. 3.

lin the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings the machine has a central shaft 1 journaled in upper and lower frames or spiders 1a and 1b which are supported upon uprights 1c. This shaft 1 may be rotated by any suitable means as by worm gearing indicated at 2; and on the lower part of this shaft is mounted a pair of disks 3 in which are rotatably journaled a series of chuck holding spindles 3a in which are chucks 3; and these spindles may be provided with pulleys 3d which can be rotated by means -of a belt 3 running over` idler pulleys 35 on the uprights 1 and driven on and to rotate said blanks when the chucks 3e f are rotated as described. The lower ends of thechucks 3 are guided on a cam track t arranged beneath the carriers or disks 3'and thisl cam track beingnconstructed to raise the chucks so as to bring the blanks B into proper operative relation with the cutters, hereinafter referred to, and keep them in proper operative relation thereto during their travel until the blank has been -sevy ered,then the chucks drop and release the cut blanks which may be ejected therefrom by any suitable means, and the fresh uncut blanks maybe placed in the chuck before it again reachesthe cutting point.

Slidably mounted on thelshaft 1 above the rotating `series of chuck holders is a slidable head havingl a pair of disks 5 connected by l a sleeve 5a whichsleeve is connected by a pin 5 to the lower end of a rod 5d which eX- tends upwardly through'the shaft 1 to and above the yoke 1a and is threaded on lits upper end and engaged by an adjustable" hand wheel 5e by turning which the head 5a with the parts connected therewith can be adjusted vertically on the shaft 1 relative to the .chuck holders.

Pivotally mounted on and between the disks 5 'are a" series of swingable arms 6 which may be pivoted between thefdisks 5 in any suitable manner, as by means of \conica1 screw pins 6a tapped through the disks-5 and engaging corresponding sockets 6" -in the inner ends of the arm 6. In the outerend of this arm 6 is journal'ed a shaft 7 having a pulley 7a; to the lower .end of this shaft is attached Aa slitting, wheel, or cutter 7 b which may be clamped on the end ofthe shaft between a iXed collar 7 c' and a `most eflicient'manfier.

slidable collar 7d `fastened by a 'nut 7e.. Of course the cutting wheels or disksmay `be secured to the shafts 7 by any other suitable -means; it is preferably attached to the lower ends thereof so that the cutters can operate upon'theiblanks held in theA chucks in the yConnected with each arm 6 is a cam roller 8 which is preferably rotatably mounted on a bracket 8a extending across arm 6 and adiustably secured thereto bymeans of a. tap

screw 8b and an adjusting screw 8, a tension spring 8d, having one end secured to the bolt 8" upon the bracket 8rl and its opposite V arms and series of cutters and chucks ret volver The cam rollers 8 are controlled during the cutting operation by contact with a cam 9 'which may be adjustably-but ixedly mounted above the upper disk 5 by means of an adjustable pair of rods 9a connected to the cam 9 and to the top frame 1. This cam is so shaped that just after the chucks have been raised by the cam e so as to present the blanks to the action of the chucks', the cutters. will begin t0 contact with the blanks and cut same'and will operate upon the blanks from the periphery toward the center as the cutterstravel around with the chucks. Thev cutters are brought into operative position and held against the cam 9 during their travel by means of a belt 10 which runs over pulleys 10a on the uprights lc above the pulleys 3f and over idler pulleys 10c mounted on the uprights in the rear of the machine; the inner portion of the belt 10 running between the pulleys 10t and contacting with the series of pulleys 7a on the cutter shafts so that'these cutter shafts are caused to rotate from about the point indicated at R Fig. 2, at which point the cutters begin to operate upon the blanks, to the point S Fig. 2, at about which point the pulleys 7a' blank can beinserted in such chuck while it 1 moves on toward point R.

The operation of the belts 3e andlO isv substantially the same as the, belt 'V shown and1 described in my patent #659,192 aforesai It will be seen that the cutters may be idle Vor non-rotating whenthey move past the feeding and discharging points of the blanks but the operator feeds a blank to the chucks successively andas a chuck nears the point R it is elevated by'the rise of the cam 4 at about the same time the pulley 7a on the related cutter shaft, which is traveling in proximity to the'chuck, nears the inner run of the belt 10 and is rotated thereby, and 'at the same time the arm carrying said cutter is moved inward until its cam roller 8 engages the stationary cam 9 against which it is,

held by the pressure of the belt 10 against the pulley 7a. -rIhe cam is so shaped that as the cutter and'chuck travel together between riphery of the cutter 7b first .engages the outer periphery of the blank in the chuck and begins to cut same and as the blank is rotated inone'direction, preferably opposite to that of the cutter, the latter cuts the first annular'v groove in the blank, Which groove deepens 'until the blank is severed or entirely cnt' in half at or before the time that.

the blank and cutter reach the point S. The severed. portion of the blank now remain'- ing in the chuck may be split, if it is thick enough,` or if itl is not too thick it may be reducedto the proper thickness'in the usual facing'machine. Theessentially novel and practical impoitant features of this invention are that by grinding or cutting the blanks from their peripheries toward their centers .While they are'traveling in the chucks along With the cutters, and having the blanks and the cut-` ters.' rotating preferably in opposite directions during the cutting operation, there is practically no tendency of the blanks to split 0H on a slant'and this enables me to make clean, perfect and straight faced blanks. If,

however, lthe fouter portion of the blank should happen to break off before the cut is in some instances to use steel disks and cutters,`fbut l prefer carborundum disks but do not Wish to be limited to any particular kind of cutter.

1 preferably employ a number of traveling chucks and cutterslarranged to travel in an orbital or endless series so that a number ofblanks may be operated on at the same time and practically each time ya fresh blank is presented to the machine for-operation a completed blank is delivered therefrom.

The' number of cutters or chucks employed may vary according to the size of the machine. Preferably the cutters are moved outwardly during the cutting operation. rThe cutters are moved radially of the blanks or heads during the rotation thereof.

What l claim is: v

l. ln a machine for splitting pearl buttons, the combination of a moving series of means for holding a plurality of button blanks, a moving series of means for holding a plurality of cutters adapted to operate upon said blanks to cut the same progressively. and annularly from the circumference toward the center as they travel, and means adapted to rotate the blanks and the cutters, in opposite directions, during part of their travel.

2. 1n a machine for splitting pearl buttons, the combination of means for. holding A a plurality of button blanks, means for rotating said holding means, means for holding a plurality of cutters' adapted to operate upon said blanks to cut the same progres-u sively and annularly from the circumference toward the center', said cutter holding means being rotatable with said blank hold- I ing means, and means adapted to rotate .the cutters and the blanks, in opposite directions during part of their travel.'

3.' ln a machine for splitting pearl buttons, the combination of means for holding a plurality of button blanks, means for holding a plurality of cutters', means for moving ing means through an orbitalfpath, said cutters by reason of said movement bein adapted to operate upon said blanks to cut the same progressively and annularly from the circumference toward the center.

4. ln a `machine for splitting pearl buttons, the combination "of a plurality of chucks adapted to hold button blanks, a"

plurality of cutters adapted to operate upon the blanks and cut the same annularly from the circumference toward the center, means for moving said chucks and cutters through an orbital path, and means'made e'ective byv such movement for'advancing the cutters toward the chucksduring part of their travel.

5. ln a blank cutting machine, the combination of a chuck adapted to hold ablank, i i

a rotatable cutter, and means for'moving the blank and cutter simultaneously; With means for rotating the cutter during its travel, and means for causing the cutter to progressively operate upon the blank held by the chuck While they travel.

6. lin a blank cutting machine, the cemsaid blank holding means and cutter holdlbination of a rotatable chuck adapted to hold a blank, a rotatable cutter, and means for moving the blank and cutter simultaneously in an orbital path; With means for rotating the chuck and cutter in opposite directions during a portion of their orbital travel, and means for -causing'the cutterv to operate upon the blank held by the chuck While they travel.

7. lin a blank cutting machine, the co-mbination of rotatable chucks adapted to hold blanks, carriers for said chucks, rotatable cutters adapted to operate upon the blanks held by said chucks, means for moving the blanks and cutters simultaneously in an orbital path, means fcr rotating the chucks during a portion of their travel, means for ,cause the cutters to operate upon the blanks held by-said chucks while the latter are rotating.

. 8. In a vblank cutting machine, the -combination of a shaft, carriers upon said shaft, chucks rotatably mounted upon certain of 'v said carriersv and adapted to hold blanks,

cutters rotatably mounted uponthe other of saidlvcarriers, means for rotating said shaft and said carriers for moving' said chucks and said cuttersl simultaneously 'in an orbital path, means for rotating said chucks and said cutters, and means made effective by the` travel of the cutters in said path to cause said cutters to advance toward said blanks f to cut the same annularly from the circumference toward the'center of said blanks.

9. In a blank cutting, machine,the com-l bination of a shaft, carriers upon said shaft,

y chucks rotatably mounted upon lcertain of said carriers and adapted to hold blanks, cutters rotatably mounted upon the other of said carriers, 'means for 'rotating said shaft and said carriers for moving said chucks and said cutterssimultaneously in an orbital path, means for rotating said chucks and said cutters, means made eective by the travel of the cutters in said path to cause said cutters to advance toward said blanks to cut the same annularly from the circumference toward the center of said blanks, ,and means to adjust said cutters longitudinally of said blanks.

10. In a blank cutting machine, the combination of rotatable chucks adapted to hold blanks, rotatable cutters adapted to operate upon the blanks held by said chucks, means for simultaneously moving said chucks and NicHoLAs BARRY. 

